Oklahoma State’s first game under Eric Morris went about as badly as the Cowboys could have imagined.
Tulsa walked into Stillwater and left with a 24-10 win on Saturday, handing OSU a flat start to the Morris era and exposing the kind of offensive problems the new coach said he wanted to evaluate under pressure. The pressure came quickly, and the Cowboys never really answered it.
Morris had said he needed to see how his team would react when things got uncomfortable. By halftime, he was already describing the effort as “piss-poor” on Cowboys radio. Oklahoma State then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to avoid another damaging loss to the Golden Hurricane, who improved to 1-0.
The Cowboys are 0-1, and the opener brought more than just the scoreboard frustration. Left tackle Jacob Sexton went down with a leg injury early, and quarterback Drew Mestemaker’s debut featured flashes, but also too many empty possessions and costly mistakes.
Tulsa finished the job with 4:18 left when Zach Williams intercepted Mestemaker in the end zone as OSU was trying to pull within a touchdown. That sealed it after the Golden Hurricane had stretched the margin to two scores on a 29-yard Damari Alston touchdown run with 7:52 remaining.
That run came after Oklahoma State failed to convert a 3rd-and-2 and a 4th-and-1 deep in its own territory while trailing by seven. Tulsa needed just one play after that to cash in.
The Cowboys’ inability to stay on schedule defined the afternoon. At that point, they were 4-for-14 on third down and 2-for-6 on fourth down. Oklahoma State also escaped two potential turnovers without giving up points, but it could not escape the bigger problem: the offense couldn’t string anything together.
Mestemaker finished 29-for-49 for 241 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He also lost a fumble on a sack in the third quarter. Justin Bowick caught the only Oklahoma State touchdown, a third-quarter throw from Mestemaker.
On the ground, Caleb Hawkins led the Cowboys with 79 yards. Wyatt Young was the top receiving target with 84 yards on eight catches.
Tulsa got a steadier night from Baylor Hayes, who went 17-for-24 for 227 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The pick came on a LaDainian Fields interception for Oklahoma State, though it didn’t turn into points for the Cowboys.
Alston was the game’s most productive runner, finishing with 73 yards and two touchdowns for Tulsa. Jimmy Calloway added five catches for 71 yards.
The Golden Hurricane also controlled the little details that kept tilting the game their way. Tulsa’s first-half touchdown drive nearly stalled after Alston had a 1-yard scoring run wiped out by a holding call on Ian Mayes.
Then, on fourth down, Jaleel Johnson was flagged for roughing the passer after Hayes had already thrown incomplete, giving Tulsa a fresh set of downs at the OSU 5-yard line. Alston finished that chance with a 1-yard direct snap and 21 seconds left in the half.
Before that, the teams had traded field goals. Tulsa’s Marlon Hauck hit from 40 yards in the first quarter, and OSU’s Sam Keltner answered with a 35-yarder in the second.
Tulsa carried a 10-3 lead into halftime and never gave it up. Oklahoma State had too many missed chances, too little rhythm, and not enough answers.
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The Cowboys also took an early hit up front when left tackle Jacob Sexton went down and had to be carted off, a blow that only added to the sense of unease around the offense. Tulsa, meanwhile, created the kind of chunk gains Oklahoma State never matched, and the Cowboys problems on fourth down kept them from turning scattered progress into anything lasting. For a fan base hoping for a clean reset, the opener left plenty of questions and not many easy answers. [Read more 🡒]
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For a program trying to reset momentum, the part that stings is how complete Tulsa looked doing it. Tre Lamb had sounded confident before kickoff, and afterward the Golden Hurricane coach had reason to feel even better about the way his team handled the moment. The scoreboard told one story, but the way Tulsa controlled enough of the game to make the final margin feel manageable left Oklahoma State with a problem it cannot just brush aside. [Read more 🡒]
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Eric Morris Oklahoma State debut arrived with plenty of attention, but the bigger story from the opener was how thoroughly Tulsa dictated the terms. The Golden Hurricane were the sharper, more physical team from the start, winning the turnover battle and coming up with the kind of early fourth-down stop that set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. For a Cowboys roster that had been overhauled and was supposed to carry more offensive talent than this showing suggested, it was a sobering first look.
The frustration is bigger than one loss because Tulsa has now had the upper hand in back-to-back meetings, something Oklahoma State supporters have not seen in generations. A program trying to reset under Morris does not need this kind of early setback, especially not one built on self-inflicted mistakes and an offense that never found a steady rhythm. The opener was supposed to answer some questions about where the Cowboys are headed, but instead it left a more uncomfortable one hanging over the program. [Read more 🡒]